Hmmm...
Dunno how I felt about it ending as it did and feeling really mixed on the season as a whole. When they marathon the final season back-to-back next week, I'll have to watch it all in one sitting to see the entire story arc play out and reconsider my feelings then. As of right now, I'm glad that it came back to wrap things up but I'm not sure if it did it well enough to warrant having come back at all.
SamJack has never been about its stories and the strongest ones were few and far in-between, even in the original series. It's always been known for its strong visual element and pacing to compensate for what it couldn't do narratively due to its original episodic nature for re-run potential. So with 10 episodes, they really had to make it count...
...and it just fell short, for me.
The pacing is really rushed (especially towards the end), uneven tonally, and the strong action and visuals weren't much there either. I have quibble's with Aku's replacement actor, often sounding like Speedy Gonzalez crossed with Peter Lorre, but the biggest gripe I have with Aku in this new season is it doesn't show what a great threat he actually is. Even in the original series he was a goofball but there were episodes where it showed off just what a great menace he ultimately is. The comeback series never really had that and it all culminated in a pretty flaccid resolve.
I understand the crew (many of them the original people who worked on the show at the start) had a small window and budget to work with but this series showed off the weaknesses of the original show and, more than not, enhanced it by spot-lighting it.
In short, I liked it came back and it got a finale but I'm left bummed by feeling empty at the end of it all. Hopefully, this final season had enough good ratings to bring Genndy back to CN with full-force and he works on making something even better with more freedom (Sym-Bionic Titan, I'm rootin' for you).